Meddling Kids: Hector's Dummy Dilemma
by Ellis97
Summary: When Hector's new ventriloquist dummy comes to life, it starts to slowly drain his soul, and turns him into a mindless zombie. When the dummy sets out to make his villainous plan complete, it's up to Mudsy, Skip, Augie, and Travis to save their friend from his own living wooden sidekick. Also, April and Maria are solving a mystery on a train on their way back to Central City.
1. The Talent Show

**Author's Note:**

 **Time to go back to Central City for another Funky Phantom story! Let's see what our favorite chickenhearted patriot is up to today!**

* * *

Our story begins, as usual, on a typical morning in a certain household in Central City, or rather, more to the point, the bedroom of one Skip Gilroy and one Augie Anderson with the brothers snoring away.

The only difference is that that day is a Saturday, which means the brothers don't have be bothered by the annoying alarm clock.

Augie's arm was hanging low from his bunk, while Skip was having a nice dream.

"I know..." he mumbled in his sleep. "You're a princess and I'm just a peasant..."

Skip then unknowingly grabbed Augie's hand and started kissing it, thinking it was the princess.

"Huh?" Augie wondered in his sleep as he felt something on his hand.

He then started squinting his eyes and moved his arm to see what it was, causing Skip (who was still holding it), to fall right off his bunk.

"Owww!" Skip exclaimed as he fell off his bunk.

"Skip, what happened?" Augie asked as he woke up.

"How should I know?" Skip asked as he rubbed his head. "One minute I'm doing the lambada dance with a princess, next thing I know, I'm falling off my bed!"

"Well there was something on my hand!" Augie remarked.

"Well, I wouldn't know what that was." Skip said.

"Whatever." Augie rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's wake up the Funky Phantom."

Skip nodded as he stretched his arms and yawned. He then went back into bed, and fell asleep again. Augie however, got out of bed and walked over to the drawer.

He knocked on the top drawer. "Oh Mudsy...time to wake up!"

There was some silence before a groan and yawn from Mudsy.

Just then, he flew right through the drawer, wearing a nightgown and floppy hat.

"Heavens to Delaware, what's going on?" he yawned.

"It's morning Mudsy, which means it's time to get ready for the day." Augie replied. "So come on, get ready! We've got a big day ahead of us!"

Seeing the sun outside, Mudsy nodded.

Eventually, the boys brushed their teeth, got dressed, and were ready for the day. Mudsy met them in the living room.

"So, what do we do today, boys?" he asked.

"Well, tonight is the school talent show." Augie said.

"Talent Show? What's that?" asked Mudsy.

"It's when people show off their talents, and whoever has the best act, wins a gold trophy." Augie explained.

"And we want you to be in our act!" Skip told the ghost.

"Like how?" Mudsy arched an eyebrow.

"It's quite simple, Mudsy" said Skip "Augie and I will put on a magic act and you'll turn invisible to make it look lik we're making things and people float in midair."

"Sounds like a bit sneaky to me." Mudsy remarked.

"It is." Skip nodded "And with sneakiness and awesome tricks like that, we'll easily win the trophy this year!"

"Besides, you promised to be our best friend forever, so you really don't have much of a choice." Augie added.

"I guess so." Mudsy shrugged.

"Then it's settled!" Skip nodded. "Come on, let's go tell Travis and Hector!"

"You know, Hector's doing an act for the show as well," said Augie. "I wonder what it could be?"

"There's only one way to find out, come on!" said Skip.

Augie nodded. "Right after we have our breakfast, bro."

Mudsy and the boys sat down in the kitchen. Augie and Skip ate some sugar cereal called "Yogi-Os".

Mudsy looked at the box. "Ingredients...Sorbic acid? Artificial coloring? Mono calcium phosphate? Boys, what is this? This is not real food! It's fake, a forgery even!"

"What do you mean, Mudsy?" Augie asked.

"This cereal is an abomination!" Mudsy replied. "Back in my day, we ate fresh food such for breakfast!"

"What do you expect Mudsy? We don't know how to cook!" Skip folded his arms.

"Regardless, this cereal stuff is not real!" Mudsy retorted. "Who makes this stuff anyway? Some kind of alchemist?"

"They made them in factories, I believe." Skip said.

"Hold onto my horses!" Mudsy exclaimed. "This century is getting scarier don't you know?"

"I suppose." Augie said.

"Come on, let's go meet the others." Skip said as he got up from the table.

"Right behind ya, Skip!" Augie added.

"To the exit, stage left!" Mudsy said as he followed the boys.

* * *

They eventually made it to Hector's place. Augie rang the doorbell.

"Okay Mudsy, you'd better turn invisible!" said Skip.

"No sooner said than done." Mudsy proclaimed before turning invisible.

Just then, Hector arrived at the front door.

"Hey guys! Glad you could make it." he said.

"So Hector, what is this big surprise you have for us, our lanky amigo?" asked Skip.

"You guys will soon find out." Hector said. "Come on in."

Skip and Augie went inside the house with the invisible Funky Phantom in tow. They sat down in the living room with Travis to hear Hector's surprise.

"Nice to see you guys here." said Hector "I bet y'all are wondering why I called you here today."

"Not really." Travis's deadpanned.

"Anyways, here's your answer." Hector said as he showed them the object he wanted to show.

Skip and Augie both gasped when Hector revealed the object.

It was some kind of ventriloquist dummy.

"Say 'hello' to my new friend, Chucky!" he exclaimed. "He's my new partner for the talent show tonight! Isn't he great? I bought him from that creepy antique store downtown."

"C-c-creepy?" Augie asked.

"Yeah," Hector nodded. "He told me that the guy who brought it in said it was cursed, but I think just that's just a load of baloney, just like witches, space aliens, and ghosts."

Skip simply blinked in response, Travis raised an eyebrow, and Augie just rolled his eyes.

"So, wanna see a joke for our act?" asked Hector.

"Not really." the others replied.

"Well here it is anyway!" Hector said as he started controlling the puppet. "Hey Chucky! How are you doing today?"

"Eh, not so good, some bees tried to make a nest in me." said Chucky.

"Oh really, did you call someone about it?" Hector asked the puppet.

"Yes, but I got a 'buzzy' signal!" Chucky replied.

Hector laughed. "Buzzy signal, get it?"

There was much silence as Skip, Augie, and Travis stared at Hector with blank faces.

"My grandpa tells better jokes than you." Augie deadpanned.

Skip came close to slapping his forehead.

"Well you'll just see how excellent my jokes really are tonight at the talent show." Hector retorted.

Travis looked at the dummy's case and saw some sort of card. "Hey! What's this, Hector?"

"Oh that's some sort of card that came with Chucky." Hector replied. "I never really did bother to read it. What with me practicing and all."

Skip picked up the card and read its content.

"Let's see..." he said. "It says 'Karra dulomna mourgul, dogoom, van, doke'. Gee, I wonder what that means..."

Unbeknownst to the boys, Chucky's eyes started to glow and his pupils turned to look at Hector.

"It's probably gibberish." Hector said with a shrug.

"So what are you guys doing for the talent show?" Hector asked the guys.

"Not really." said Travis "After the knife throwing incident from last year, I'm banned from all the school talent shows."

"What about you guys? Are you doing anything?" Hector turned to Skip and Augie.

"Why, yes we are." Skip said.

"What's your act gonna be?" Travis asked.

"You guys will find out in the talent show." Augie winked.

"Yeah, it'll blow you away." Skip added.

* * *

Later that night, it was time for the school talent show and most of the acts were finished. Next up, it was Augie, Skip, and Mudsy's turn to go.

"Next up, we have Skip Gilroy and Augie Anderson with their magic act." said the principal.

There were cheers from the audience as the brothers made their way onto the stage.

"Thank you ladies and gentlemen!" Augie bowed. "I am the Amazing Augie and this my assistant, the Somewhat Lovely Skippini!"

Skip reluctantly walked over to the stage, wearing in a flower dress and wig.

"It's days like this when it doesn't pay to be two minutes younger." he thought to himself.

"Anyways, and for today's act, we're gonna do a magic trick." Augie continued. "And I know what you're asking, 'What kind of magic trick'?"

"Well, we are going to show all of you the art of telekinesis and floatation!" Skip continued.

"Using this, magic wand!" Augie said as he pulled out a magic wand from his pocket. "You might be skeptical at first, but trust me ladies and gentlemen, this will be the most amazing spectacle you've ever seen!"

There was some murmuring from the crowd of students.

Augie cleared his throat. "And now, I must say a magic word...Oobrakaboobra...and now, we will do, a magic dance!"

Skip turned on a boom box, which started to play some hip-hop Arabic dance music, which he and Augie started to pop-locking to. Soon enough, the music ended and they stopped dancing.

"Okay, now to make some magic!" Augie exclaimed as he waved his wand and pointed it to a random student.

Just then, the student started floating in mid air, much to everyone's shock.

"You think that was amazing, watch this!" Augie boasted as he raised his wand again and two more students started floating as well.

There were more gasps from the crowd of students.

The floating students started flying all around the auditorium, until Augie let them back down into their seats.

"Boy, this magic act surely is making me parched..." said Skip. "I sure could use a drink of water."

"No problem my slightly lovely assistant!" Augie said as he pointed his wand at somebody's cup of water and floated it right into Skip's hand, who drank the water.

The audience then cheered for the amazing magicians, not knowing who was really behind their act.

"Thank you folks!" Augie shouted to the kids. "You've been a wonderful crowd!"

"Thank you!" Skip blew some kisses to the girls.

The crowd cheered as the brothers made their way off the stage.

They went backstage and Mudsy reappeared without anyone noticing.

"Great job, Mudsy!" Skip exclaimed. "The floating really did them!"

"Yeah, we're bound to win the trophy now." Augie added.

"I had better get something out of this, you know." Mudsy remarked. "I think I pulled something back there!"

Back onstage, the principal came to announce the final act.

"Boy, that sure was spectacular and unexpected..." he said. "Now, here's our final act...put your hands together for Hector Ramirez and Chucky!"

Everyone cheered as Hector made his way onto the stage with Chucky.

"Thank you, Thank you." said Hector. "Well Chucky, how are you today?"

"Very good, thanks." Chucky said as Hector tried to make it look like his lips weren't moving.

"Great." said Hector. "Now repeat that while I drink water."

Hector grabbed a glass of water and tried to talk through it.

"Very...good...thanks..." he gurgled.

There was much silence as the other students stared at him blankly. Unbeknownst to them, Chucky's eyes started glowing and his head started moving.

"So Chucky, what do you think of these nice people?" Hector asked the puppet.

Just then, Chucky started to talk on his own. "Why don't you ask your pal, Augie? He's the biggest dope I've ever seen!"

Just then, everybody started laughing, expect for Augie.

"What in the..?" Augie asked.

Chucky then continued. "Why did the pathetic, ugly, disgusting loser cross the road? To get away from Skip!"

Everybody started laughing, except for Skip and Augie, of course.

"Wow, somebody insulted you Skip, and it wasn't me!" Augie remarked.

"You don't say." Skip folded his arms.

"Hey Travis!" shouted Chucky. "Your dead grandpa just called: He wants his face back!"

The audience started laughing even harder.

"You know, I don't know why but I've got a strange feeling about that dummy." Mudsy whispered to the brothers.

"What makes you say that, Mudsy?" asked Augie.

"I don't know, but there's something about it that creeps me out, creeps me in even..." Mudsy whispered.

The brothers turned and made another look at the dummy, who was continuing to tell rather crude jokes.

"All I know, is that dummy is making my best buddy poke us in the shame gland, and I won't stand for it!" Skip exclaimed.

"Me neither!" added Augie.

"Wait a second..." said Augie. "Did we just agree?"

"Yeah, we did..." said Skip.

Augie and Skip both shuddered at them actually agreeing.

As soon as the talent show ended, Augie, Skip, and Travis walked away from Hector, who was trying to get to them.

"Guys, I didn't say any of those things, Chucky did!" he told them. "He has a mind of his own."

"We don't wanna hear excuses, Hector!" Travis glared at him. "If you have any problems with us, you can it to our faces!"

"Your faces are the problem!" Chucky retorted.

"See what he just said?" Travis deadpanned.

"Come on guys, let's leave Hector and his puppet alone!" Skip sarcastically said, before the gang left for home.

* * *

When Hector got home, he got ready for bed and put Chucky into his case.

"Maybe Chucky really can talk..." he thought. "No that's ridiculous! Dummies can't talk! Maybe I'm just tired..."

Hector climbed into bed, turned off the light, and fell asleep. While that was occurring, Chucky's box opened up and suddenly, the puppet sat up straight.

"Heh, heh, heh..." he snickered, then turned to his sleeping owner.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Looks like Hector's new dummy is no dummy. What could that puppet be up to? Does it have anything to do with the strange words on the card? Stay tuned!**

 **By the way, this website needs a section for "Captain Caveman", "Jabberjaw", and "The Funky Phantom."**


	2. The Dummy is No Dummy

The very next day, Mudsy and the boys sat down to watch some nice television.

"I swear guys, this trophy is so awesome!" Augie said as he looked at the trophy. "I'm so glad that I won it!"

"Don't you mean, 'we' won it?" asked Skip.

"Yeah, I did most of the work!" Mudsy replied.

"But they thought it was me performing!" Augie retorted. "If I had known you were gonna complain, I'd have never asked you to join the act!"

"And how, pray tell, do you plan on winning if we weren't going to join your act?" Mudsy folded his arms.

"Yeah!" Skip added.

Augie gulped. "Um...uh...say! Let's see what's on the news!"

"Figures." Mudsy said.

"Try having him as your wombmate." Skip rolled his eyes.

Augie changed the channel to the news, where Reginald Livingston Segal was giving a special announcement.

"This just in! The Central Jewelry Store has been robbed!" Reginald announced. "We take right now to our roving reporter, Bob for further details!"

"A robbery?" Skip asked.

"Yes, a robbery!" Bob nodded as he took the viewers inside the ransacked jewelry store. "As you can see, tons of trinkets and authentic gems have been pilfered from this place. Rubies have been robbed, sapphires stolen, topazes taken, and jades have been jacked!"

"Heavens to Murgatroyd! This is scary, terrible, bad even!" Mudsy gasped.

"Who could have pulled this off?" Augie wondered.

"Who could have pulled this off?" Bob continued. "Well, the store was able to provide us with their surveillance video on last night's robbery!"

The scene then cut to a video of the jewelry store being robbed. Much to Skip, Augie, and Mudsy's shock, the person robbing was none other than...

"Hector?!" they shouted in unison.

The trio stared at the television screen in disbelief.

"I...don't believe this!" Skip said.

"Yeah!" Augie added. "That video's picture quality is very low."

"I'm talking about Hector, you dolt!" Skip retorted. "I can not believe my own best friend would resort to shoplifting! First the talent show, and now this?"

"Now let us not jump any hasty conclusions, Skip." Mudsy told Skip. "There must be a rationale explanation for all this!"

"Like what?" asked Augie.

"You have any ideas, Mudsy?" Skip asked.

"One thing is for sure, we must consult Hector," said the ghost. "That's one way to figure out this mystery, don't you know?"

"You know, I was thinking about the card that came with his dummy." Skip said. "Could that card contain a message of some sorts?"

"Like those messages from the backs of cereal boxes, when you find secret decoder rings inside?" asked Augie.

"Something like that." Skip nodded.

"Perhaps there was some sort of connection between that puppet and that card?" suggested Mudsy. "Where did Hector say that puppet came from?"

"He said he got it from the creepy antique store down the road, maybe we can talk to the owner about the puppet." said Skip.

"And where's that antique store?" Augie asked.

"On the other side of town," said Skip. "The really creepy side of town..."

"Creepy side?" Mudsy gasped. "Heavens to Delaware! Creepy parts of town make my ghost flesh break out in gooseflesh!"

"Well, it's the only place where we can get our answers on this creepy dummy and the card that came with it." Skip said.

"Besides, we could use the Funky Phantom for protection." Augie remarked.

"Of all the people in the world to get stuck with, I ended up with them." Mudsy sighed as he looked at the fourth wall.

* * *

Meanwhile, April and Maria were at the Coolsville Railway Station as they prepared to take the train back to Central City.

"Come on April, the train is here" said Maria. "We don't wanna be late."

"Coming..." April said as she followed Maria on the train.

After boarding the train, the girls took their seats and looked on as the train begin pulling out of the railway station.

"Boy, I'm sure gonna miss Brenda" said April. "It was really great for us to hang out again."

"Yeah, without Brenda, we don't have a wingman." Maria added. "I guess we'll have to find a new wingman to replace her until we can visit again."

"Oh, well." April shrugged. "I sure wonder how are the guys doing."

"Betcha that they're up to something stupid." Maria deadpanned. "As always..."

"Can't say I'm surprised." April nodded. "Especially Skip and Augie, those two are always up to something foolish and are looking for trouble at times."

Maria nodded as well before they turned to enjoy the scenery passing by. However, the silence was broken by a sudden shriek coming from the passenger car ahead of theirs.

"Yikes!" April yelped. "What was that?"

"It came from over there!" Maria pointed to the passenger car.

The girls got up from their seats and quickly made their way to the neighbouring passenger car, where they spotted several other passengers looking on in surprise towards where the shriek originated from.

"What happened?" April asked one of the passengers as they arrived at the scene.

"Some woman shrieked randomly like she saw a ghost or something!" said the passenger.

"Maybe we'd better investigate." April said to Maria.

"I don't know April, I really don't like to get involved in people's personal business..." said Maria.

"Yes you do." April deadpanned. "Now come on, let's go see."

The girls walked over to the woman who made the shriek.

"Ma'am, what happened?" April asked the woman. "You look like you've seen a ghost or something..."

"It was a ghost!" The woman said hysterically from the scare she just had.

"A ghost? Now that's ridiculous, everyone knows that ghosts are fake." said Maria. "Obviously, you were just seeing things. Either that, or it was some sort of practical joke."

"Maybe." April said as she looked around.

"Don't worry Madame, we'll clear up this whole mess." said Maria. "So, what did this ghost look like? And where did you see it?"

"He-he-he was glowing blue!" The woman said. "And I spotted him while checking into my room at the sleeper car ahead!"

"I see..." said April. "Did this 'ghost' say or want anything from you?"

"He said something about a 'coin'." The woman replied.

"A coin?" Maria raised an eyebrow. "Why would a ghost want a coin?"

"Yeah, he can't use money, a ghost can't walk into a store and use money!" Maria added.

"Besides, the only coin I have on me is our family coin..." said the woman.

"Family coin?" asked the girls.

"Yes." The woman nodded. "It was a rare artifact passed onto me from my father when he died."

"A rare artifact..." April pondered.

"Yes, this was the last coin to be produced in old Victorian England, where most of my family owned the factory it was made in." the woman explained. "My family has kept it in mint condition ever since."

"Wow." April said. "Perhaps the ghost is after this coin."

"Don't worry, ma'am, we'll protect you!" Maria proclaimed.

"You will? Oh thank you deary." said the woman.

"And we'll get to the bottom of this mystery." April added.

"Just tell us where your room is, and we'll protect it!" Maria proclaimed.

"Sure thing." The woman nodded. "It's room 19 in the fourth sleeper car."

"Thanks, ma'am." April said as the woman handed them the keys to her room. "And by the way, we'll need that coin just in case."

"Okay, but I must warn you to be careful with this coin..." The woman said as she handed the coin case to April. "This is a precious family heirloom, so please do not lose it!"

"Don't worry, what could go wrong?" April rolled her eyes.

"Thanks for jinxing it, April." Maria deadpanned.

* * *

Back in the outskirts of Central City, Mudsy and the guys arrived at the creepy-looking antique store.

"Here's the place, guys." Skip said as he stopped the buggy.

Mudsy read the sign. "'Aunt Annie's Antique Antiquarium'. Seems awfully scary for a store..."

"Quit complaining Mudsy, you might even find something from your generation that you like." said Augie.

"Yeah, I'm sure I will find something that will remind me of my family's untimely demises." Mudsy deadpanned.

"That's the spirit, Mudsy!" said Augie. "Come on!"

The trio headed into the shop, where there was tons of old, seemingly valuable stuff.

"Heavens to Delaware, this looks like something my grandmother threw up!" Mudsy said as he looked at the store.

"Or a history book." Skip remarked.

Augie then made his way to the front desk. There, a tanned woman in dreads was sleeping like a log.

"Excuse me? Ma'am?" he tapped on the woman's head.

The woman started to get up "Huh? What?"

Mudsy immediately turned invisible as Skip went over to join Augie.

"Are you Aunt Annie?" asked Skip.

"Yes, I am, child." Aunt Annie nodded. "Let me guess, you're here for the grandfather clock aren't you?"

"Uh...no..." Skip shook his head. "We're hear to talk to you about that old puppet you recently sold to our friend, Hector."

"What about it?" asked Aunt Annie.

Skip pulled out the card that came with the dummy as he said, "This card came with the puppet and we were wondering what it's saying."

"And we'll like to know where did you order the puppet from." Augie added.

"Oh dear," Aunt Annie gulped. "This is no ordinary card child, and that was no ordinary dummy! That dummy is cursed!"

"Cursed?!" Augie and Skip shouted in unison.

"Yes, cursed! Here me now!" Aunt Annie nodded.

"What's the story behind that dummy?" Skip asked. "And how did it end up in your store?"

Aunt Annie started to explain. "It's quite a dark story: Chucky was made by an evil sorcerer back in the 1800s. The wood he used was cursed and from a stolen coffin. He turns his owners into mindless zombie slaves and drains their souls, so he can turn real."

Augie and Skip both arched their eyebrows as they turned and shared a look.

Aunt Annie confined. "The man who brought Chucky here was his last victim...he wanted to get rid of that puppet the minute he was freed!"

"But how did he get free?" asked Augie.

"His wife used the same spell that brought him to life." Aunt Annie explained, "Your friend is in trouble! You need to use that spell again to change Chucky back!"

Augie and Skip looked at each other.

"That means we don't have a moment to lose!" Skip said. "Let's go!"

"But there's something else you should know!" Aunt Annie added. "You have to get Chucky away from your friend before you recite the spell! As long as they're in physical contact, Chucky can do permanent damage!"

"Sure thing." Augie nodded. "We'll keep that in mind."

"Thanks Aunt Annie!" said Skip.

"Anytime boys." said Aunt Annie.

The boys headed back to the dune buggy and Mudsy turned visible again.

"Heavens to Delaware." Mudsy said as they took off. "We don't have much time to act if we want to save your friend Hector."

"Right!" Augie nodded. "We're going to need Travis to help us as well and fast!"

"Right!" Skip proclaimed. "I won't let my best friend become a mindless zombie!"

"Then we must go, post hasty pudding!" Mudsy exclaimed.

Skip stepped on the gas pedals and our heroes drove off to Travis' house. They had to hurry if they were to save Hector.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Heavens to Delaware! It looks like Hector's in trouble! Can the Funky Phantom and his cronies save him from losing his soul? Stay tuned!**


	3. Another Mystery Solved

Meanwhile, on the train from Coolsville to Central City, April and Maria were at the woman's room in the sleeper car where the rare coin is kept for safekeeping.

"Boy, this lady sure has one soft bed..." Maria said as she laid down on the bed.

"Maria, focus!" April snapped her fingers. "We have to keep this woman's coin safe from that ghost!"

"April, what are the odds of a ghost coming near us?" April deadpanned. "That Woman was just seeing things. Everyone knows that ghosts are fake."

"I hope you're right." April said when her eyes widened as she spotted something. "Because care to explain that to him?"

"Huh?" Maria asked as she looked towards where April was looking at.

It was none other than the same ghost that the woman saw earlier.

"Give me the coin..." he wailed.

"Th-there's a perfectly good explanation for this..." Maria stammered. "It's just a-a-a-a...GHOST!"

"Let's get out of here!" April said.

April and Maria ran out of the room from the ghost, who started chasing them around the train.

"I surely wasn't expecting that ghost to show up!" Maria said.

"I kinda was!" April remarked.

The girls continued running with the ghost closely behind.

The ghost chased them all over the hall, from to door. Eventually, April and Maria hid underneath a table in the train's dining cart.

"Boy, this sure is one place to hide from a ghost." April remarked.

"Yeah, it worked for us when we were running from my mom when we didn't want to go to bed back when we were little." Maria added.

Unaware of the two girls hiding under a table, the ghost looked around.

"So now what?" asked Maria.

"We need a plan to capture that ghost..." April replied.

"But how?" asked Maria.

"Maybe set up a trap to try to capture the ghost." April said. "There's gotta be something in here that we can use to turn the tables against that ghost."

"Like a tablecloth or a net?" asked Maria.

"Something like that." April nodded. "In addition to using the coin as a bait to lure the ghost into our trap."

"But we'll need someone to hold the coin in order to make it happen," added Maria. "Who could we possibly get?"

April smirked right at Maria.

"Oh no..." Maria moaned.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Central City, the guys arrived at Hector's house. They jumped out of the car, with the invisible Mudsy right beside them.

Augie then rang the doorbell many times until Hector's mother came to the door.

"Oh, hello Augie, hello Skip, hello Travis." she said.

"Hello Mrs. Rameriz, is Hector home?" asked Skip.

"Come inside" Mrs. Rameriz replied. "Hector could use some company. He's been sleepwalking into jewelry stores and hasn't said anything in his own voice all day."

"Uh oh." Augie said.

"We've got no time to lose!" Skip gasped. "Come on!"

The boys raced inside of the house, where Hector was looking all pale, emotionless, and clammy, with Chucky in his hand.

"Hector?" Travis asked.

Hector didn't respond and just sat there with that expression on his face.

"Uh, Hector are you okay?" Travis waved his hand across Hector's face.

Chucky used Hector's arm to make him swat the hand away.

"I said he's fine, Travis, now shut up!" said the puppet.

"He certainly does not look anywhere close to fine to me." Travis retorted.

"Yeah!" Skip agreed. "What have you done to Hector?"

"Yeah!" Augie exclaimed. "Fess up you stupid puppet!"

"I'm not a puppet!" Chucky retorted. "Few more hours and I'll be as real as you!"

"Not if we can help it!" Travis exclaimed as he lurged straight at the dummy in an attempt to remove him from Hector.

"We'll see about that!" Chucky said before turning to Hector "Stop them, dummy!"

The guys tried to grab Chucky, but he kept using Hector to dodge them.

"Looks like it's Funky Phantom time!" the invisible Mudsy thought.

"Fools!" Chucky exclaimed. "You can't stop me!"

Just then, Mudsy reappeared. "That's what you think, you horrible hunk of wood!"

Mudsy then tackled Hector and Chucky, which resulted in them rolling out of the house and into the front yard.

Skip and Augie looked at each other.

"Now!" They both exclaimed as they followed Mudsy onto the front yard.

The boys ran outside and managed to pull Chucky right off of Hector and tumble him right onto the lawn.

"Great job boys!" said Mudsy. "Amazing, stupendous even!"

"No time for sweet talk, Mudsy!" said Skip. "Come on! We've gotta stop Chucky!"

The boys and Mudsy walked right over to Chucky, ready to recite the spell.

"No Augie, please!" the puppet begged. "All I wanted was to be real like you and your friends! You don't know what it's like being a dummy: unable to cry or laugh, always wearing tiny, ill-fitting suits, and people making you talk! Please! Just let me be real! Let me live!"

"I don't think so!" Augie exclaimed. "You're going down, woody!"

Just then, Chucky sprang up all on his own and starting jumping for joy. "The soul transference is complete! I'm free at last!"

Skip gasped. "Oh no! We're too late!"

Chucky then grabbed the spell card and tore it up.

"You fools won't stop me now!" Chucky boasted.

He picked up the zombified Hector, threw him in the shotgun of his dad's car, and started to drive off at breakneck speed.

"Buckle up for safety!" Chucky laughed manically.

"Heavens to Murgatroyd! He's got Hector!" Mudsy exclaimed. "We've gotta save him! Post hasty pudding!"

"Quick!" Skip exclaimed. "To the buggy!"

Mudsy and the boys got into the buggy and started following Chucky and his zombified master. After driving for a few minutes, they found themselves entering the woods outside of town.

"The woods?" asked Augie.

"What's he gonna do here?" added Travis.

The four got off the buggy to search.

"Oh Chucky..." Augie called out. "Where are you?"

"Here, puppet, puppet, puppet..." added Skip.

"Come out, come out, come in even..." Mudsy added.

Travis then pointed to something "There they are right there!"

Everybody looked at where Travis was pointing. It was Chucky dragging Hector to the edge of a cliff.

"Oh no!" Skip shouted. "We've gotta stop that maniac!"

The four heroes ran over to Chucky, who was just about to hurl Hector down the cliff.

"Chucky! Don't!" Skip shouted at the puppet.

"Sorry kid, the big guy has to go!" said Chucky "Otherwise, you'll be trying to get his soul back! Say 'bye bye' to Hector! Mwah ha ha ha ha!"

"This calls for some fast thinking!" Mudsy thought as he quickly floated over, still invisible, and tackled Chucky.

"Ooph!" Chucky exclaimed as he fell to the ground, causing him to drop Hector as well.

"Get off of me, you colonial creep!" Chucky grunted.

"Never!" Mudsy struggled "I swear on my wife's tomb, don't you know?"

Chucky then kicked Mudsy right off of him and picked up a large walking stick.

"That's it!" He shouted. "I'm through messing around! See you later fools!"

Skip panicked and looked around for something. He picked up a random rock and threw it right at Chucky, which hit him and caused him to slip right off the cliff

"AAAHHHHH!" He shouted as he plummeted right down the cliff and shattered into a million pieces, thereby releasing both Hector's soul and the soul of the evil sorcerer who created Chucky.

As his soul returned to his body, Hector stirred before opening his eyes.

"Wh-what just happened, guys?" Hector asked.

The boys ran over to Hector, so happy to see him alive and well.

"Hector!" They shouted happily as they looked at his lying down body.

"Oh man, we're glad to have you back, buddy!" Skip exclaimed.

"Back?" asked Hector "What do you mean, 'back'? Man, I've not felt like myself lately..."

"It was that puppet you've bought." Augie said. "It was cursed."

"Cursed?" asked Hector.

"Yep!" Augie nodded. "But we saved you, thanks to our best buddy, the Funky Phantom!"

Mudsy then revealed himself, much to Hector's shock.

"The spirit of 1776, even!" Mudsy boasted.

"Aye carumba!" Hector exclaimed. "Travis and I were supposed to tell you about him, but instead, it was the other way around..."

"Huh?" Augie asked.

"What do you mean by, 'the other way around'?" Skip raised an eyebrow.

"We actually already figured out about his existence." Hector explained. "After that incident at history class where Mrs. Martin placed you guys on detention for pulling that 'ghost prank', we were suspicious that you guys couldn't have pulled the prank."

"Yeah" Travis nodded "So when we went back to your house after school, we saw you reveal Mudsy to your mom, and that's when we found out the truth. We wanted to tell you, but we decided to wait for the right time. Guess it really couldn't wait, huh?"

Skip and Augie shared a look with each other.

"Yeah, I guess not..." Skip nervously chuckled.

"So what do you think happened to that other soul that was in the puppet?" asked Augie.

Everybody shrugged in not knowing the right answer.

* * *

Meanwhile back on the train, April and Maria had finished setting up the trap for the so-called "ghost".

"All set." April said.

"I gotta stop giving April ideas..." Maria muttered to herself.

"Okay Maria, get ready to flaunt the coin!" April told her.

Maria sighed. "Oh Mr. Ghost Man! I've got a nice, shiny coin for you! I'm sure you'll love it!"

Nothing happened at all.

"See April? I told you this wouldn't work!" Maria placed her hands on her hips.

Just then, a growl came from behind Maria.

"He's right behind me, isn't he?" Maria deadpanned.

April nodded her head.

Maria turned and found herself face to face with the ghost.

"Gimme the coin!" The ghost hollered.

"Ah...if you want the coin so badly, come and get it!" Maria quickly said before taking off and ran.

The ghost started to chase Maria down the hall. As soon as Maria crossed a red carpet, April pulled it up as soon as the ghost stepped on it, and started to hog tie him in a rope.

"We did it!" April exclaimed as the ghost struggled to break free to no avail. "We've captured this ghost!"

"Now all we have to is find out who he really is." added Maria.

The two girls pulled the mask off, revealing a man.

"Oh my God!" April exclaimed. "It's...uh..."

"Mr. Perkins!" said the woman, who appeared right before the girls "I should have guessed!"

"Well aren't you a genius, Mrs. Cromwell?" Perkins glared at the woman.

"Who is Perkins?" Maria asked Mrs. Cromwell.

"And why was he after your coin?" Maria added.

Mrs. Cromwell started to explain. "Our families were once partners in the coin industry. They were fairly successful, so they made quite a fortune and it was the staple of the town they lived in."

"So what happened?" asked Maria.

"They didn't want to share the money, so my great grandfather killed Perkins' great grandfather to get it." Mrs. Cromwell continued. "Since then, the factory has been shut down and our families have been at war with each other. Perkins and his family will stop at nothing to retrieve that coin, which they feel rightfully belongs to them."

"And I would've finally gotten it too, if it wasn't for those meddlesome girls!" Perkins added.

A short while later, the train stopped at Steelville, where the local police arrived to bring in Perkins.

"Mr. Perkins, you're going downtown!" said the chief.

The police slapped handcuffs on Perkins and took him away.

"Thank you girls for saving my family coin," said Mrs. Cromwell "How can I ever repay you?"

April and Maria looked at each other.

"Well, you could buy us something to eat, I'm starving." said Maria.

"Oh, yeah." April added as she noted the time. "It's almost noon."

"Follow me, girls." said Mrs. Cromwell.

The girls followed Mrs. Cromwell to the dining cart, ready for some lunch.

A few hours later, April and Maria arrived at Central City.

"Home sweet home, at last." sighed April.

"Yeah, too bad we couldn't stay longer to see Brenda get her cast off tomorrow." Maria added.

"Oh, well." April shrugged. "Now to head home and get some rest."

"See ya, April." Maria said as she walked home.

"Bye Maria." April waved goodbye to her best friend.

After the two girls split up, April headed straight home and sighed.

"Gee, I sure hope we visit Brenda again soon." she thought. "But I guess for now, Maria and I will have to find another wingman."

April took out her phone and started to call home to inform her folks she was on her way.

* * *

Meanwhile, the guys were hanging out at Hector's place.

"Thanks for helping me out guys, I don't know what I was thinking when I purchased that puppet." Hector stretched his arms.

"Well I hope from now on, you'll stick to what your good at." said Skip. "Whatever that is"

"Oh, well." Augie said. "Now what should we do?"

"Maybe we should see what's on TV, I could go for something mindless." said Augie.

"You don't need a TV to do something mindless!" Skip laughed.

"Anyways, let's see what's on the news." Travis says as he reached for the remote.

Travis changed the channel to HB News, where Reginald Livingston Segal was reporting on something.

"...and finally, Hector Rameriz seems to have recovered from his little sleepwalking incident and will not be doing it again anytime soon." he said. "In other news, the Case of the Missing Teens is still going strong. No indications of the disappeared youths seem to have caught up. Here are some theories as to where they could be."

The scene changed to some kind of therapist in his office, ready to share his theory.

"They still haven't find those guys, huh?" Augie remarked.

"Nope." Skip deadpanned.

"Hello!" said the therapist. "My name is Dr. Jacobson, and in my professional opinion, these adolescents have either run away from home regarding some incident that they are afraid to live up to, or have gone into streets and started a group of thugs."

"You're kidding me." Travis remarked.

"No I am not kidding." said Dr. Jacobson. "Those theories are most likely true."

The scene then cut back to Reginald at his desk.

"Now we take you to Principal Quinlan to hear what she has to say about this!" he said.

The boys looked at each other as the scene is cut to the principal.

Principal Quinlan started to talk "I have been running Crystal Cove High for quite sometime, and I can assure you that I know the students very well. Apparently, my five vanishing students might be suffering from some sort of pubescent phase, which might regard their home lives, hormones, or self-esteem issues."

"Huh." The boys all snorted.

"There you have it!" Reginald exclaimed as the interview ended. "Now, we take you to one of the parents of the missing children, to give their sorrow!"

The scene then cut to the parents of Biff.

"Yeah, we haven't seen Biff since last week when we told him he had to look for a job..." said Biff's mother.

"As much as that boy gets on my nerves, I would give anything for him to come back to us." said Biff's father.

"Wow Frank, didn't think you had it in you." Biff's mother deadpanned.

"Gee whiz." Augie said. "I really wonder where are those guys are at."

"I wonder what happened to that soul that was in the puppet." Travis remarked.

Everybody shrugged in disbelief.

* * *

Meanwhile, the evil wizard's soul had been searching for a new host when finally, it saw a little girl having a tea party with her dolls. Thinking quickly, the soul entered the doll's body and next thing you know, the eyes started glowing something fierce.

 **THE END...or is it?**

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Looks like the guys have stopped that puppet from controlling Hector. But what about that soul from that evil wizard? Now it's taken over a new host. Looks like a sequel will be coming pretty soon.**

 **Our next story is going to be both the Scooby-Doo and Captain Caveman story. Stay tuned for when it comes!**


End file.
